Hi all,
Wonderful site. Just what I needed!
Around where I live, beginning knitting lessons are about $100.00, so I'm attempting to teach myself. I'm very, very awkward with those needles and that yarn, let me tell you! I'd be embarrassed with actual other people around.
I have a question too, if it's okay to ask it here.
I purchased a 100% cotton yarn made by Sugar & Cream. Very inexpensive, but I'm wondering if I may have made a mistake buying it. This stuff is unravelling like crazy. I can clearly see every strand.
When I go into the stitch before doing the yarn over, I usually end up splitting the stitch. When I try to correct, I start dropping stitches
Is this my inexperience, or should I buy another type of yarn while I am learning?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Rosecomplice

psammeadred

07-03-2007, 10:40 AM

Hi, and welcome to the forum! You've definitely come to the right place to learn to knit. (And $100 knitting lessons? Good grief!)

I've also had some splitting problems with Sugar & Cream. One thing that might help you is to try to knit more loosely. It sounds like you're wedging your needles into the stitches, which is common in new knitters. There's a helpful article here (http://www.knitty.com/issuespring05/FEATloosenup.html) about loosening up your knitting. (This will also help you avoid stress injuries!)

Other than that, you might also try knitting with wool. Cotton isn't very elastic, so it's harder on your hands. The first time I knitted with cotton, it wore me out! Some good inexpensive wools are yarns like Patons Classic Wool, Lion Wool, and Cascade 220.

cftwo

07-03-2007, 10:48 AM

Cotton yarns often tend to split more than other types of yarn. Sometimes knitting more loosely or trying a large needle will help. Or, you may want to try a different yarn to start out with and go back to the cotton yarn when you're more comfortable with tinking (un-knitting one stitch at a time).

brendajos

07-03-2007, 10:50 AM

yup i would try a different yarn to start out with. even a cheap acrylic would be easier to start with than S&C. S&C is good once you have gotten used to how to make the stitches and your gauge has evened itself out. There just isn't enough give in cotton yarn to be forgiving when you are new.

Chel

07-03-2007, 10:58 AM

Welcome!!!

Just my opinion, but I also find Sugar and Cream (and Peaches and Cream) to be very splitty. Cotton also has no give (meaning stretch) what-so-ever making it very difficult to learn on.

I taught a beginners knit class at my Aunts Craft store and after experimenting with several different yarns for the class project the yarn I chose for our dishcloth was TLC COTTON PLUS.

I chose this yarn for several reasons. First of all it is a cotton/acrylic blend. The acrylic adds stretchability to the yarn and keeps the cotton from losing its shape. Its a durable yarn, but soft enough to be used as a face cloth. It comes in nice colors. But most importantly, the yarn is twisted so that it is almost woven or cabled. I had to actually TRY to make it become splitty. It just did not do it on its own.

My class loved it and thankfully splitty yarnwas not something I had to tackle during class. Now dropped stitches... thats another matter.

May I ask what pattern you are using? You mentioned yarn overs.
It may be benificial for you to use a lifeline.

A lifeline is simply a piece of string that you thread through the stitches. It allows you to keep your place in a pattern. If you find later that you have to rip back, you just reinsert your needle in the row with the lifeline.

Amy has a great video of it here (tp://www.knittinghelp.com/images/new/icons/video_combined.gif)

Good luck and again, welcome to KH!!!

suzeeq

07-03-2007, 11:15 AM

It also helps to use larger needles so the stitches won't be so tight you have trouble getting the point into one; helps the splitiness.

Mommy22alyns

07-03-2007, 11:20 AM

I had to make a real effort at loosening up my stitches while I was first learning. I started out with a cheapy acrylic too, but it still split terribly. A big difference maker for me was the needles. Once I learned to ease off my stitches some and upgraded to pointier tips, knitting with any yarn was much easier. :thumbsup:

Doodknitwit

07-03-2007, 11:34 AM

welcome :waving: you are fortunate to have the KH as a resource!! :yay:

alwayslearning

05-16-2014, 03:25 PM

Reading this thread on yarn that splits... I'm as newbie and new to KH :woot: and between the yarn that splits and dropping stitches, been getting discouraged and then keep ripping out and starting all over. Lots of good tips here. :woot: Thanks

Becky Morgan

05-17-2014, 06:09 PM

Sometimes it really isn't you--it's the yarn! Or the needles, or the pattern :)

The usual advice for beginners is to buy a light- and solid-colored, smooth-textured acrylic worsted and size 8 or 10 needles. I usually go with 8s for worsted, but others may need bigger or smaller needles to get the look they want. Light solid colors, rather than anything dark or variegated, make it easier to see your stitches.

Once you get used to knitting, you'll probably like the S&C, but it really is a pain to start with and it's always splitty if your needles are the least bit too small or your tension even a little tight.

XtopherCB

05-18-2014, 07:03 PM

then again, sometimes it's the knitter... or rather, the knitter's tension... that's what goes on for me. i have to remember to relax and leave enough 'give'. it also helps for me to follow some of those beginner's tips, like casting on with oversized or double needles, and finding patterns with yarn-overs, which help alleviate tension.

i've also noticed that with my over-frogged acrylics (2 different skeins i've used/re-used/re-used again for practice and gauge swatches) that i have to be careful of errant strings staying on the needles or being grabbed when making new stiches. if i pay attention to each 'turn' or 'round', then i see them and can slip them off before they get knitted in.

another reason i wonder how those ladies mentioned in another post can barely look down at their work - experience indeed! ;)

alwayslearning

05-19-2014, 06:59 PM

Thank you Becky! I do have some S & C, but did find it tricky. I want to get more proficient in just making simple things like dishcloths/washcloths and don't want to spend so much time struggling with splitting and trying to put the split part of the loop back where it belongs and starting all over, too many times after I found a hole a few rows back. I did find a helpful video on youtube today about correcting mistakes. I'm sure there are some good ones about that on this site too...just haven't had the chance to thoroughly explore. Regards, Nancy